Mounting unit for corn picker elevators



L E953 R. sAMMER MOUNTNG UNIT FOR CORN PICKER ELEVATORS viled'not. 24, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet IN1/EN TOR. Pag/044%? 5a/77mg,

Sept. 1, 1953 R. sAMMER MOUNTING UNIT FOR CORN PICKER ELEVATORS Filed OCL. 24, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet IN1/EN TOR.

Fadda/7 .6a/WWW fr ,Trop/vm Patented Sept. l, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT GFFICE MOUNTING UNIT FOR CORN PICKER ELEVATORS Application October 24, 1949, Serial No. 123,110

4 Claims. (Cl. 214-42) This invention relates to an attachment for a harvesting machine capable of mounting and driving a material conveyor of the machine, said mounting being formed to continuously maintain the discharge end of the conveyor in register with a wagon, trailer or other mobile receiver, irrespective of the terrain and of the direction of turn of the machine and trailer during operation.

The primary object of this invention is to provide an articulated driving assembly and mounting` means for conveyors or elevators, capable of automatically causing lateral and vertical positioning of the discharge end of a harvester conveyor in alignment with a towed material receiving vehicle during continuous operation.

It is the most important object of the present invention to provide conveyor mounting means having parts on the harvester carrying the conveyor and parts on a towed trailer or the like for receiving conveyed material, cooperable to maintain the discharge end of the conveyor in alignment with the trailer over rough terrain and as turns are made in any direction by the harvester veyor attached to the machine. However, difficulty is experienced in the turning operation since the towed trailer or wagon moves from beneath the conveyor discharge and spillage of quantities of valuable material results. This situation became especially serious with the advent of contour farming which requires that the farming machinery must sometimes follow a rather tortuous path, It follows that large quantities of grain are lost during the harvesting operation when conventional transfer means is used.

This invention has as its purpose therefore, the

elimination of such waste by the use of means and by the trailer as a result of the turning of the harvester.

Another important object of the invention is to provide, in addition to the above mentioned novel mounting means, structure operably interconnecting the conveyor and the operating mechanism of the harvester or a separate prime mover thereon, to actuate the conveyor and at the same time permit free swinging movement of the conveyor on the harvester in a number of directions,

Other objects of the invention will appear during the course of the following specication, referring to the accompanying drawings, where- Fig. 1 is a fragmentary, side elevational view of a harvester showing its elevator and an attached trailer illustrating mounting means for said elevator made according to the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary, cross-sectional view taken on irregular line II-II of Fig. l, looking in the direction of the arrows.

-Fig. 3 is a fragmentary, cross-sectional view taken on line III-III of Fig. 2; and

Fig. Li is a fragmentary, detailed, cross-sectional view taken on line IV-IV of Fig. 1, parts being broken away for clearness.

It has long been the practice to tow a mobile vehicle behind or at the side of a harvesting machine to receive the harvested grain from a conto maintain the conveyor discharge and in register with the receiver while further providing a means for driving the conveyor as it assumes the various positions required by the turning operation.

In the form of the invention as shown in Fig. 1, a conveyor or elevator is broadly designated by the numeral Ii] having a downwardly projecting discharge spout I2 at its upper and rearward end and a hopper I4 at the lower and forward end thereof to guide harvested material into the conveyor I0 from a harvester 30. Conveyor I0 has a support, including a pair of opposed plates I6, swingably attached thereto and intermediate its ends by bolts I8 or other means, the opposite end of plates I6 being swingably attached to a rod 20 as at 22. Rod 20 is pivotally'secured to a spring 24 which in turn is attached to a rigid standard 26 on harvester 30.

A trailer, generally designated by the numeral 32, is attached to harvester 30 by means of a pivotal coupling 34 for free swinging movement on a number of axes in the usual manner.

Mounting structure for conveyor Ill, generally designated by the number 3B, is disposed on the forward, uppermost end of trailer 32. Structure 36 includes a T-shaped member having a stem 44 and a U-shaped cradle 42 on the normally uppermost end of stem 44. A horizontal roller` 33 having pintles 40 journaled in the legs of cradle 42, supports conveyor I0 between said legs. Stem 44 is mounted for rotation on a vertical axis in a pipe 46, in turn secured to trailer 32 by brackets 48. Thus, cradle 42 extends above the upper edge of the front end of trailer 32 and supports conveyor I0 with spout I2 about trailer 32. A collar 41 is adjustably held in place on stem 44 by a set screw 49 and rides on the upper end of pipe 46, whereby the height of cradle 42 may be varied.

The conveyor or elevator It, is additionally supported and actuated at its lowermost end, elevator l is of conventional construction and includes an endless belt or web 50 having a plurality of transverse slats 52 thereon for moving the material upwardly from the harvester thereto of the outlet spout l2. Endless belt l0 passes over opposed drums on the upper and lowermost ends respectively of the conveyor l0, drum 54 at the lowermost end being shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings.

A horizontal shaft 56 for the drum 54 extends beyond one outer face of the elevator I0 and carries a pulley 58. A pair of arms 80 having openings at the uppermost ends thereof for receiving the shaft 56 depend from the lowermost end of conveyor I0 and serve as a support therefor.

A pair of superimposed housings 62 and 64 are hollow and eac-h may be entirely closed if desired and provided with removable side plates to render the gearing therewithin readily accessible. lThe proximal faces of the housings 62 and 84 are formed by a pair of superimposed, intererlgaged and relatively slidable plates S0 and 68 respectively. A horizontal shaft l0 traverses the housing 82 as provided with a pulley 12 exteriorly of the housing 82 for receiving an endless belt 14 trained thereover and also passing over the pulley 58 of conveyor shaft 56. rlhe housingr 64 is also provided with a shaft T6 that is parallel with and in direct underlying relationship to the shaft '10. Shaft 16 is provided with a sheave 'P3 that connects with a sheave 80 (see Fig. l.) through the medium of an endless belt 82. The sheave 80 is mounted on a drive shaft 84 for a suitable prime mover (not shown) which may constitute either a separate engine or motor, or, if desired, shaft 82 might Well operably connect with the power mechanism of harvester 30. In any event, it is contemplated that upon rotation of drive shaft 84, conveyor belt 50 be actuated through the employment of a train of gears within housing E2 and 64 respectively and broadly designated by the numeral 8G. Such train includes beveled gears 88, 90, 92 and 94 respectively, gear 88 being within the housing 62 and secured directly to the shaft '(0, while gear 94 is disposed in housing 64 and attached to shaft 1S.

The gear 90 is provided with a depending perforated hub 96 extending rotatably through a pair of aligned openings 98 and |00 in plates 66 and B8 respectively. An annular downwardly facing shoulder |02 rides upon the uppermost face of plate 6B and gear 90 is held in constant meshing relationship with respect to the gear 88.

The gear 92 has a hub |04 that circumscribes that end of the hub 96 extending into the housing 64 and is affixed directly thereto. Gear 92 meshes with the gear 94 and gears 80 and 92 are interconnected further through the medium of a pin |06 extending therethrough.

Upon rotation of drive shaft 84, like rotative movement is imparted to the shaft 16 through pulleys 18 and 80 and belt 82. As shaft 16 rotates together with its gear 94, rotative motion on a vertical axis is imparted to the gears 90 and 92. Gear 90 in turn rotates gear 88 to rotate the shaft 'I0 of gear 88 and consequently, the conveyor belt 50 is driven through the medium of pulleys 58 and l2 and the interconnecting belt 14 therefor.

It is apparent that the conveyor l0 is freely swingable on a vertical axis at its lowermost end with respect to the harvester 30 since such swinging movement of conveyor l0 is imparted to the plate 66 and such plate slides freely upon the uppermost face of plate 68. By the same token,

the conveyor I0 is free to swing on its axis defined by the shaft 56 journaled in the arms 60. Both swinging movements of the conveyor I0 at ie lowermost end thereof on intersecting vertical and horizontal axes, are entirely free of the driving mechanism for the belt 50 and irrespective of the position of the conveyor I0 with respect to the harvester 30, belt 50 will at all times be driven as above set forth.

In operation therefore, as the harvester progresses, the trailer 32 will be free to rise and lower over rough terrain because of the flexible coupling 34. In this same manner the spout I2 will be raised and lowered through the cradle assembly 36 while the roller 38 and the shaft 56 oscillate on substantial vertical, horizontal axes. In the event of a turn by the harvester 30, rendered possible because of the coupling 34, conveyor I0 being held between the legs of the cradle assembly 35, will swing on the vertical axis defined by the pin l 06 as the plates 66 and G8 slide relatively and at the same time, the stem 44 of cradle 42 will rotate on its vertical axis with respect to the tube 46. Irrespective of the position of the trailer 32 with respect to the harvester 30, the outlet spout I2 will be maintained substantially in the same position as in normal operation above and in register with the trailer 32.

It is manifest further that as the elevator l0 swings on axes 38 and/or 56, spring 24 will flex sufficiently to assure that elevator I0 rides upon the roller 38 at all times. Furthermore, as the elevator l0 swings on axes 44 and/or 106, the pivotal connection between bracket I6 and standard 2B will permit such swinging movement without binding.

Another feature to be noted is the way in which the spring 24 holds the elevator i0 in a partially raised position when the coupling 34 is released and harvester 30 pulled away from the trailer 32.

Many details of construction might well be varied without departing from the spirit of this invention and it is, therefore, desired to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In a farm implement assembly having a harvester, a mobile receiver pivotally coupled with said harvester for towing thereby, and an elongated conveyor for moving harvested material from said harvester to said receiver, the improvement of which comprises structure for maintaining the conveyor in a position for discharging said material into the receiver during turning movement of the harvester and the towed receiver, said structure including a plate on the conveyor and on the harvester respectively, said plates being relatively superimposed and relatively rotatable on a substantially vertical axis; and a conveyor supporting cradle mounted on the receiver for free, unrestricted, pivotal movement on a substantially vertical axis, said cradle receiving the conveyor for movement relative thereto, whereby the conveyor is swung on said axes as the harvester turns relative to the receiver.

2. In a farm implement assembly having a harvester, a mobile receiver pivotally coupled with said harvester for towing thereby, and an elongated conveyor for moving harvested material from said harvester to said receiver, the improvement of which comprises structure for maintaining the conveyor in a position for discharging said material into the receiver during turning movement of the harvester and the towed receiver, said structure including a plate on the conveyor and on the harvester respectively, said plates being relatively superimposed and relatively rotatable on a substantially vertical axis; and a conveyor supporting cradle mounted on the receiver for free, unrestricted, pivotal movement on a substantially vertical axis,

said conveyor resting within said cradle for free reciprocable movement on its longitudinal axis, whereby the conveyor is swung on said axes as the harvester turns relative to the receiver.

3. In a farm implement assembly having a harvester, a mobile receiver pivotally coupled with said harvester for towing thereby, and an elongated conveyor for moving harvested material from said harvester to said receiver, the ini-- provement of which comprises structure for maintaining the conveyor in a position for discharging said material into the receiver during turning movement of the harvester and the towed receiver, said structure including a plate on the conveyor and on the harvester respectively, said plates being relatively superimposed and relatively rotatable on a substantially vertical axis; and a conveyor supporting cradle mounted on the receiver for free, unrestricted, pivotal movement on a substantially vertical axis, there being a roller forming a part of said cradle and mounted for rotation on a substantially horizontal axis, said conveyor resting on the roller for free reciprocation on its longitudinal axis, whereby the conveyor is swung on said axes as the harvester turns relative to the receiver.

4. In a farm implement assembly having a harvester, a mobile receiver pivotally coupled with said harvester for towing thereby, and an elongated conveyor for moving harvested ma- 5 terial from said harvester to said receiver, the improvement of which comprises structure for maintaining the conveyor in a position for discharging said material into the receiver during turning movement of the harvester and the towed receiver, said structure including a plate on the conveyor and on the harvester respectively, said plates being relatively superimposed and relatively rotatable on a substantially vertical axis, and a conveyor supporting cradle mounted on the receiver for free, unrestricted, pivotal movement on a substantially vertical axis, said cradle receiving the conveyor for movement relative thereto, whereby the conveyor is swung on said axes as the harvester turns relative to the receiver; and mechanism operably interconnecting the harvester and the conveyor for motivating the latter, said mechanism including a rotatable shaft carried by the conveyor and the harvester respectively, a spindle pivotally interconnecting the plates and rotatable relative thereto, and a train of gears interconnecting the shafts with the spindle.

RUDOLPH SAMMER.

References Cited in the iile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,449,075 Walker Mar. 20, 1923 1,563,387 MacEachen Dec. 1, 1925 1,677,824` Harrison et al July 17, 1928 2,389,483 Bobrowski et al. Nov. 20, 1945 2,397,420 Jorgensen Mar. 26, 1946 2,401,465 Cwicig June 4, 1946 2,465,156 Huddle Mar. 22, 1949 2,512,039 Siren June 20, 1950 

